Jodi writes Fictional stories that contain a lot of Factual People, Places and Things. Here you can find out what parts of the Between Lions Series areMyth (fiction/artistic license/she made it up) andFact (truth/actual history/places you can visit/art you can see in a museum)!

FACT: Library LIons are REAL!

In TRUST, Book One, Anna the heroine goes to sleep in her bed at night and wakes up one year later, lying on the steps of the New York Public Library, between the Lion Statues.

These two marble lion statues are infamously known as the 'Library Lions'.

They can be found guarding the entrance of the library at 5th ave & 42nd street. Their names are 'Patience' and 'Fortitude'.

FACT: ARTS PIECES & EXHIBITS IN TRUST EXIST!

In TRUST, Anna has several important moments at the Met (the Metropolitan Museum of Art). Their massive Egypt Wing is real, Temple of Dendur is an amazing exhibit that you can absolutely visit, as well as many of the Impressionist paintings mentions - but not all of them are at the Met. Every painting, sculptures and exhibitions mentioned in TRUST are FACTS - from the Pollacks & Seurats to the headless marble Venus statue - they really exist. The MYTHICAL element is that Jodi moved them all to a more convenient location to make it easy for Anna to see them. For example, the Olmec exhibition is real! Jodi was lucky enough to see it shown at LACMA (Los Angeles Museum of Art) not in NYC (not sure if it was ever actually shown in NYC). The Olmec Heads really are that mind-blowing, so if it comes to a Museum near you, run do not walk to check it out!

FACT: ANUBIS WAS A REAL (MYTHICAL) EGYPTIAN GOD!

When most people think of Ancient Egypt, an image of mummies come to mind. Anubis was the Egyptian funeral/death god who created the mummification process. In one of the central Egyptian myths, Anubis embalms the dead body of another god to ensure that it wouldn't decay before magic could raise him back to life. In addition to mummies, Anubis was also responsible for helping souls transition to the afterlife, and he played a major part in the soul's judgement ceremony before the gods. Anubis held the scales that weighed a soul to see whether or not it deserved to enter the afterlife. It was also believed that placing statues of him in tombs would protect the deceased. Anubis is depicted in a human body with the head of a jackal, or in complete jackal form, implying that he has the ability to shift shape. Jackals were frequently found around Egyptian Burial sites; they believed the animals were a sign of Anubis' protection.

The sixteen inch tall Anubis statue Anna sees at the Met is a real art piece in their collection. The Werejackal creatures in the Between Lions Series that once served Anubis, and now serve the Museion, are my own Fictional/Mythological creation, sprouted from a seed of mythological truth!

FACT: THE ALEXANDRIAN LIBRARY

Long ago the leader (named Ptolemy) of the ancient egyptian city of Alexandria decided to create the grandest library the world had ever seen. In that time, a library was called a Museion, or translated into modern english: Temple of the Muses. Since it was widely believed that there were nine magical Muses that influenced artists, scientist, mathematicians and other talented people, it seemed fitting to name the temple after them (FACT: The english word Museum still pays homage to the Muses today). Ptolemy invited the greatest minds of the era to visit, create, study and learn from one another at the Alexandrian Museion as long as they each added to the collection. The Library of Alexandria was a wonder of the ancient world.

FACT: HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA

The last Head Librarian did have a genius daughter named Hypatia. She was a brilliant scientist & mathematician who taught at the Alexandrian Library, despite the fact that it was unheard of for a female to be educated during that era. Her opinions were respected and sought after by many important politicians, which is one of the reasons Hypatia's life was threatened. She was called a witch and (TERRIBLE FACT:) was murdered in the streets of Alexandria. Many historians consider her death the beginning of the dark age. Her story affected Jodi so much that she couldn't let it be. She wanted to give her life a different kind of ending. Jodi asked herself:

What would happen if Hypatia hadn't been murdered?Would she have been able to save the Library from destruction?

The Fictional/Mythological answers Jodi dreamed up were the inspiration for BETWEEN LIONS!